Iran Calls Appointment Of Bolton As National Security Adviser Shameful

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton arrives at Trump Tower in New York for meetings with US President-elect Donald Trump on December 2, 2016. / AFP / DOMINICK REUTER (Photo credit... Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton arrives at Trump Tower in New York for meetings with US President-elect Donald Trump on December 2, 2016. / AFP / DOMINICK REUTER (Photo credit should read DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has called the appointment of the former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to the role of National Security Adviser of the United States shameful, Iranian media reported on Sunday, citing his involvement with an opposition group once named a terrorist organization.

The report by the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying for an “apparent superpower it is a matter of shame that its national security adviser receives wages from a terrorist group,” referring to Bolton attending a gathering of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) group in 2017.

The U.S. removed MEK from its list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2012.

Shamkhani also said attempts by the U.S. to weaken Iran have only “laid the groundwork for improving the power and influence” of Iran. Bolton advocates regime change in Iran and is opposed to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Also on Sunday, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, spokesman for the influential parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, told the semi-official ISNA news agency that Bolton’s appointment, as well as that of former CIA chief Mike Pompeo to U.S. Secretary of State, “proves that the final U.S. purpose is overthrowing the Islamic Republic (of Iran).” He added that the U.S. will use MEK to achieve that aim.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he would appoint Bolton to the post as his administration faces a key decision on whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

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  1. Hey, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq may be terrorists, but they’re our terrorists.

  2. I don’t suppose that there are many times or things where the Iranian leadership and I would find common ground, but on this? Ab-so-fucking-lutely! Shameful doesn’t begin to describe it.

  3. Avatar for kenga kenga says:

    When the IGRC and the Ayatollah are right when they call a staffing choice by POTUS “shameful”, shit has officially gotten absurd.

    ETA - “ridiculous” and “ludicrous” also, too.

  4. Yes, but “fucking idiotic” wouldn’t even make a ripple in the Trump administration cesspool. It’s all fucking idiotic. Reminds me of Goering’s famous quip: “Lunacy becomes us.” The Trump administration is “Fucking Idiotic ‘Я’ Us”

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